When Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reports first-quarter earnings Wednesday morning, investors will get to see whether the gloomy guidance the company gave when it reported fourth-quarter results did indeed come to pass. The stock posted its 52-week high just one week before announcing those results, and plummeted more than 15% by early February.

Analysts are expecting the aircraft maker to post earnings per share (EPS) of $1.56 on revenues of $20.19 billion. In the same quarter of 2013, Boeing reported EPS of $1.73 on revenues of $18.89 billion. Revenues are rising, but profits are falling.

Boeing took orders for 275 total commercial planes in the first quarter, up sharply from the 220 new orders it took in the first quarter of last year. The company also sported a record backlog of $441 billion at the end of December. Through the end of March, Boeing had delivered 161 new commercial airplanes, which seems well below the pace that it needs to deliver a planned 715 to 725 commercial aircraft in 2014.

Boeing has beaten profit estimates for four straight quarters. That string is not in much danger tomorrow, given the $0.21 cut to the consensus EPS estimate over the past three months. But anything less than a fat upside surprise could be considered a miss.

The stock traded up about 0.9% Tuesday morning, at $128.95 in a 52-week range of $87.20 to $144.57.

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